Man pleads guilty in Brooklyn Park murder case

MINNEAPOLIS - A Brooklyn Center man pleaded guilty to murder in connection to the shooting death of his friend on April 24.

Deshawn Deaondre Roberts pleaded guilty on Thursday to second-degree unintentional murder in the death of a 16-year-old in Brooklyn Park.

Squads were called to Central Park on the 8400 block of Regent Avenue North just after 8:30 p.m. on a call of shots fired. When they arrived they discovered the boy lying on the ground, shot in the head, police said.

The victim was rushed to North Memorial where a bullet was removed from the boy's brain. Damage to the brain is described as extensive. He later died from his injuries.

Officers at the scene learned that a number of individuals were at the park for a BBQ and subsequently became involved in a disagreement. Deshawn Roberts, also known as Lil Y, was going to fight a man in the other group. Witnesses say Roberts pulled a gun and began shooting, firing as many as six or seven shots.

"When a young man wildly fires more than a half dozen shots and leaves one person dead, we push for long prison terms," Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said. "We were perfectly willing to go to trial unless we got the kind of sentence that justice demands. We have to make the consequences of using a gun so severe that people will think twice before using one."

Interviews led to another witness who told police they could find the gun hidden at a residence under a pile of leaves. Detectives recovered the weapon and arrested Roberts.

When questioned, investigators say Roberts admitted to firing the shots, and told them the victim was not his intended target.

The Hennepin County Attorney's office is asking for Roberts to be sentenced to 21 years in prison. Sentencing will be Nov. 19 at 1:30 p.m. before Judge William Koch.

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